Maribeth Joeright/MJoeright@News-Herald.comKerri Varsetti of Madison Village is grateful for the services she received from Neighboring which helped her to get her life back on the right course. Neighboring and Pathways are merging into a new company called Beacon Health.

Kerri Varsetti has worked hard to transform her life to one that includes a job she enjoys and the chance to raise her children.

The Madison Village resident has overcome some low points, including spending six months in jail after an arrest in 2006 for operating a methamphetamine lab.

But Varsetti, 35, said her arrest changed her life in a positive way because it forced her to get treatment that she desperately needed.

"I had basically struggled all my life with addiction, even though it was a hard thing when it happened, it was the best thing," she said of the arrest. "I was able to get help."

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She was ordered to get treatment and along the way discovered an untreated attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder that can lead to depression and other problems.

"I have to admit, I would have never willingly done it. I was court-ordered. I got in trouble. I was an alcoholic and addict. I got caught with a meth lab and charged with a felony," Varsetti said.

She remembered, in particular, one day in jail when storms prevented her two boys from coming in to visit her. Her father stood with them outside the jail and they could only wave.

"Eventually, you know, I realized I didn't want to go back to jail, so I had to do it," Varsetti said.

A more effective way to treat people who need behavioral health care is what recently led to the merger of two Lake County-based service providers.

Neighboring Mental Health Services along with Pathways Inc. have joined to form a newly-named agency called Beacon Health.

By integrating the programs and services together, Beacon Health now provides comprehensive health services to adults with mental illness and addiction disorders.

"Our combined resources at Beacon Health provide services and individualized support to change lives," said CEO Spence Kline. "To just name a few of the services, we provide medication management, counseling, case management, support groups and supported employment assistance."

The Lake County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services board had invested in both Neighboring and Pathways for three decades and officials believe the merger will make a difference to help serve the public.

"We feel the new agency that has emerged from their consolidation has the potential to become a very strong player in our system," said Kim Fraser, Lake County ADAMHS Board's executive director.

Kline said Beacon Health plans to have one central facility within the next two months. For now, agency offices in Mentor on Palisades Parkway and Heisley Road remain open and offer services to clients.

Varsetti first began to drink at age 12 and dropped out of school in ninth grade. In many ways, she hadn't learned how to care for herself.

As part of her sentencing, Varsetti spent four months at NorthEast Ohio Community Alternative Program in Warren, then six months at Oak House -- a residential treatment facility for women in Painesville.

Varsetti realizes she wasn't ready to start a new chapter until she learned how to live a sober life.

"When I actually became more willing and open-minded, they helped me extremely in a lot of ways," she said.

Michelle Robinson, an employment specialist and Varsetti's caseworker at Beacon Health, said when people are released from jail they often fall back into the same patterns of bad behavior unless they learn tools to reshape their lives.

"A lot of the time you go back to the same environment," Robinson said. "You have no choice or anywhere to go."

Varsetti continues to see a doctor for medication and a therapist, and Robinson has worked with her to find and to maintain employment.

Her first job was to bus tables at a restaurant where she earned an employee of the month award.

"I thought I needed to do a good job, having that attitude was very important," Varsetti said.

For the past four years, she's worked for a cleaning company and realizes now how important employment can be for a person's sense of self-worth.

"Getting a job after you had a record is such as challenge, it can be overwhelming and that's why a lot of people get discouraged and fall back," she said. "You can't function if you don't have some sort of work or path."

She has earned a General Educational Development diploma and has plans to start college to earn a degree in social work.

"I really, really want to help people," she said. "I know that feeling that you just can't change, can't get your kids back, be this way forever -- it doesn't have to be that way. I think with my experience I can help somebody else."

For more information about Beacon Health, visit: www.beaconhealth.us or call the Heisley Road office: 440-354-9924 or Palisades Parkway office: 440-918-1000.